By: Ogden S.J.R. No. 38
(In the Senate - Filed March 11, 2005; March 21, 2005, read
first time and referred to Committee on Finance; May 6, 2005,
reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 4; May 6, 2005, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.J.R. No. 38 By: Ogden
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing a uniform
statewide property tax for public education, abolishing school
district property taxes for maintenance purposes, and authorizing a
limited school district property tax for educational enrichment if
approved by the voters of the district.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1-e, Article VIII, Texas Constitution,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1-e. Except as provided by Section 3-a, Article VII, of
this constitution, no [No] State ad valorem taxes shall be levied
upon any property within this State.
SECTION 2. Article VII, Texas Constitution, is amended by
adding Section 3-a to read as follows:
Sec. 3-a. (a) The legislature by general law may authorize
the state to impose a uniform ad valorem tax for elementary and
secondary public free school purposes on all taxable property at a
rate not to exceed $1.10 for each $100 of taxable value.
(b) During each regular legislative session, the
legislature by general law, including a provision in a general
appropriations act, shall establish the rate of the uniform state
ad valorem tax for the current tax year and for the following tax
year. The tax rate must be the same for each of those tax years.
For the two tax years for which the legislature establishes a tax
rate, the tax rate may not exceed the rate that when applied to the
taxable value of property subject to state ad valorem taxes for the
first of the two tax years, less new property value as defined by
general law, would levy for that tax year an amount of state ad
valorem taxes that exceeds 108 percent of the amount of state ad
valorem taxes levied for the tax year preceding the preceding tax
year.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 23, Article VIII, of this
constitution, the legislature may provide for the appraisal of
property subject to the uniform state ad valorem tax, for the
equalization of the taxable values of that property, and for the
collection of the state ad valorem taxes imposed on that property.
(d) The uniform state ad valorem tax shall be assessed on
the valuation of property subject to the tax as determined by the
appraisal officials in the county in which the property is located.
If an appraisal official uses generally accepted appraisal
standards and practices to appraise property subject to the uniform
state ad valorem tax and the valuation of the property subject to
that tax conforms to or is equalized by the local appraisal review
process to conform to the accepted standards and practices, the
assessment of a state ad valorem tax on that valuation is not
invalid. This subsection expires at the end of the 2006 ad valorem
tax year.
(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) of this section, the
legislature by general law may authorize the governing body of a
school district to use revenue of the district, including proceeds
from a uniform ad valorem tax imposed under Subsection (a), to
provide relief from the uniform ad valorem tax imposed on residence
homesteads in the school district.
(f) For the 2006 and 2007 tax years, the legislature by
general law may establish the rate of the uniform state ad valorem
tax at a rate not to exceed $1.10 for each $100 of taxable value.
This subsection expires January 1, 2008.
SECTION 3. Section 3, Article VII, Texas Constitution, is
amended by amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsections (f)
through (i) to read as follows:
(e) The Legislature shall be authorized to pass laws for the
assessment and collection of taxes in all school districts and for
the management and control of the public school or schools of such
districts, whether such districts are composed of territory wholly
within a county or in parts of two or more counties.
(f) A school district, as provided by general law, may
impose an ad valorem tax on taxable property in the district for the
purpose of providing an enriched educational program. The rate of
the enrichment tax may not exceed 15 cents for each $100 of taxable
value. A school district may not impose a tax under this subsection
unless the tax is approved by the qualified voters of the district
voting at an election to be held for that purpose. An election held
before January 1, 2006, to authorize an ad valorem tax for the
maintenance of the public schools of a school district does not
authorize the imposition of an enrichment tax under this
subsection.
(g) The[, and the] Legislature may authorize an additional
ad valorem tax to be levied and collected within all school
districts [for the further maintenance of public free schools, and]
for the erection and equipment of school buildings therein;
provided that a majority of the qualified voters of the district
voting at an election to be held for that purpose, shall approve the
tax.
(h) The Legislature may pass laws for the creation of junior
college districts, the management and control of those districts,
and the imposition of ad valorem taxes in those districts. A junior
college district may not impose a tax under this subsection unless
the tax is approved by a majority of the qualified voters of the
district voting at an election held for that purpose. A junior
college district is not a school district for purposes of this
section.
(i) An ad valorem tax approved by the voters of a junior
college district under this section before November 8, 2005, is not
affected by the amendment of this section approved by the voters at
an election held on November 8, 2005, and the junior college
district is not required to hold a new election to authorize the
existing tax. This subsection expires January 1, 2006.
SECTION 4. Section 3-b, Article VII, Texas Constitution, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3-b. No tax for the enrichment [maintenance] of public
free schools voted in any independent school district and no tax for
the maintenance of a junior college voted by a junior college
district, nor any bonds voted in any such district, but unissued,
shall be abrogated, cancelled, or invalidated by change of any kind
in the boundaries thereof. After any change in boundaries, the
governing body of any such district, without the necessity of an
additional election, shall have the power to assess, levy, and
collect ad valorem taxes on all taxable property within the
boundaries of the district as changed, for the purposes of the
enrichment [maintenance] of public free schools or the maintenance
of a junior college, as the case may be, and the payment of
principal of and interest on all bonded indebtedness outstanding
against, or attributable, adjusted, or allocated to, such district
or any territory therein, in the amount, at the rate, or not to
exceed the rate, and in the manner authorized in the district prior
to the change in its boundaries, and further in accordance with the
laws under which all such bonds, respectively, were voted; and such
governing body also shall have the power, without the necessity of
an additional election, to sell and deliver any unissued bonds
voted in the district prior to any such change in boundaries, and to
assess, levy, and collect ad valorem taxes on all taxable property
in the district as changed, for the payment of principal of and
interest on such bonds in the manner permitted by the laws under
which such bonds were voted. In those instances where the
boundaries of any such independent school district are changed by
the annexation of, or consolidation with, one or more whole school
districts, the taxes to be levied for the purposes hereinabove
authorized may be in the amount or at not to exceed the rate
theretofore voted in the district having at the time of such change
the greatest scholastic population according to the latest
scholastic census and only the unissued bonds of such district
voted prior to such change, may be subsequently sold and delivered
and any voted, but unissued, bonds of other school districts
involved in such annexation or consolidation shall not thereafter
be issued.
SECTION 5. Section 1-j, Article VIII, Texas Constitution,
is amended by adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
(d) Property described by Subsection (a) of this section is
not exempt from the uniform state ad valorem tax imposed for
elementary and secondary public free school purposes unless
expressly exempted by a general law enacted after January 1, 2005.
(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (d) of this section,
property described by Subsection (a) of this section that is held at
a location at which property described by that subsection was
exempt from taxation by a school district in the 2005 tax year is
exempt from the uniform state ad valorem tax imposed for elementary
and secondary public free school purposes.
SECTION 6. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 8, 2005.
The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
proposition: "The constitutional amendment authorizing a uniform
statewide property tax for public education, abolishing school
district property taxes for maintenance purposes, and authorizing a
limited school district property tax for educational enrichment if
approved by the voters of the district."
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